Monday, March 23, 2009

Australia: Hacked Filter Reveals Blacklist in 30 Seconds

A 30-second hack of a NetAlert-approved family-friendly filter exposes a list of websites banned in Australia.

The vulnerability, leaked to iTnews over the weekend and verified by IT security consultants, is due to a flaw in the Integard internet filtering software developed by Brisbane's Race River Corporation.

A source claimed to iTnews that Integard can be reverse-engineered with a hex editor to reveal material the software is designed to keep secret.

iTnews asked three IT security specialists for their opinions.

They all refused to go on the record but they said the list of banned URLs is exposed in a process that takes about 30 seconds.